Divorce & filing I-751 (merged)

[oceanborn 33]

Hi all,

Regular observer, first post here however. Just wanted to run this past you folks to make sure I'm on the right track.

My ex-wife decided we should move from the UK to the US back in 2012. We filed for adjustment of status, were approved in July 2013 and I received my conditional green card at this time.

Sadly over the past year, she has decided that her lover was more important -- our marriage was suddenly a hindrance to her desire to pursue an alternative relationship. She filed for divorce a couple of weeks ago, which becomes final around May.

I'm somewhat aware of what I have to do in order to remain here, in that I have to file I-751 with the divorce waiver box checked. My question pertains to evidence - once the divorce is final, of course, I will be immediately filing.

Here's what I've collected so far:

- Tax return for 2013 (joint)

- Tax return for 2014 (joint)

- Bank account statements for our primary joint account spanning the duration of our marriage

- Life insurance from both my jobs with her listed as the sole, 100% beneficiary

- Spousal insurance for the aforementioned jobs

- Housing leases in both our names spanning 2013 - 2015

- Car loan / bill of sale for automobile purchase in 2013, jointly applied and so listing both our names

- Affidavit from my ex-wife stating her ground for ending the marriage (insupportability) & entered into on good faith

- 401K statement listing my ex-wife as the sole beneficiary should I die before claiming

- Cover letter listing my reason for agreeing to the divorce (not going to remain with someone who I'm evidently making unhappy & who wishes to move on herself)

& obviously I'll be including the final divorce decree once obtained from the court. The only thing lacking on my part is photos from the wedding itself, entirely non-religious service that we didn't invite her family to as she had no intent of them finding out (should have been a red flag at the time, but nevermind)

I moved out once I came home for the third time to another man being there with her, and am now in Washington whereas she remains in Texas.

Any thoughts would be most welcome.

Thanks!

[Jawaree 717]

Dude sorry, but bonafide solid proof like U have should

be fine unless she just wants you gone & intend to be

hateful, if not use any photo of you both together to

show relationship & be honest that no official wedding

photos were taken if asked

[Villanelle 4,121]

huh.

No kids right?

It seems on your list you intend to and you still currently have your 401k (and life ins?) allotted to your ex wife...? A woman who cheated on you multiple times...? Someone whom you are divorcing due to incompatibility issues (not sure what your divorce papers say)

But to be honest when people separate its usually a clean split. Thats what the divorce does. It neatly slices all the finances apart. Very Very ODD for one spouse to leave another previous spouse any sort of money or physical property upon death- unless theres something going on behind closed doors.

So you got something behind a door?

Dont make USCIS wonder about that...

Im sure you have someone else you can designate as beneficiary.

Otherwises, Im assuming youre including what the packet requires (the copy of the GC), copy of DL. You know, the photos dont have to be of the wedding, they can be from trips or holidays or everyday events. Some people include snapshots of cellphone records showing calls made back and forth if you have access to those. Birthday/anniversary/holiday card exchanges- although women tend to save those types of memorabilia more then men... You can attempt to get another aff from a neutral 3rd party that knew you as a couple. A neighbor or old acquaintance. As a last resort you can always contact the previous place you rented- you do have the lease but ask for a letter of reference (its less awkward then explaining you are divorced and asking for an immigration letter) stating Mr and Mrs lived her from X toY date TOGETHER and were good tenants blah blah, paid on time, were quiet decent folks.

[oceanborn 33]

I'm sorry, perhaps I should have clarified - she was listed as my sole beneficiary during the time of our marriage. The divorce proceedings are still underway, obviously as she only filed them two weeks ago. However, no, they are currently allotted to nobody - that is, I have no beneficiaries listed on my plans, I simply had HR remove her when she announced her intention to file.

​​​

Also, yes, I did keep her listed while she cheated on me multiple times. Blame both my naivety and sheer will that she would want to reconcile with me, & that our marriage wasn't doomed to absolute failure.

Yes, copy of the Green Card and Drivers License is a given -- I do have multiple, in the hundreds I suppose, of photos of us during our marriage.

Thanks for your responses so far.

[TBoneTX 43,057]

It sounds as though you're on pretty solid ground in terms of being able to remove conditions.

[oceanborn 33]

Hi all!

I posted here before, but finally the time has come where the divorce was made final today - and although I am struggling with an ex-spouse who is determined to make my life as difficult as possible by not even providing me with a copy of the divorce decree, I have requested one from the court and it is on its way to me.

As such, I am very nearly ready to file for removal of conditions based on a good-faith marriage divorce waiver.

The evidence I have collected so far is below, and I would really appreciate any insight as to whether or not there's anything I can add / if it looks good to go.

• Application fee - $505
• Biometrics fee - $85
• Form I-751
• Written statement pertaining to the details of our marriage and subsequent divorce
• Copy of the final divorce waiver, dated 5/20/2015
• Copy of the original marriage certificate
• Copy of USCIS Form I-551 (Permanent Resident Card)
• Copy of our joint US tax return for the years 2013 and 2014
• Copies of our joint bank account statements spanning 2013 - 2015
• Copies of our joint auto loan for the Toyota Prius purchased together in 2014
• Copies of our lease agreements spanning 2013 and 2014
• Account summary of our cellular phone family plan detailing both of our names

Thanks so much in advance!

[Pitaya 2,576]

~Similar-themed threads merged. No need to start a new thread.~

[oceanborn 33]

Just as an update...

I had a lawyer look over my paper c/o the company I work for prior to filing earlier today.

Everything seemed AOK, and in the end what I included was the following:

1. A letter detailing the circumstances of our marriage and reasons for divorcing,
2. Joint US tax return for the fiscal year 2013
3. Joint US tax return for the fiscal year 2014
4. Joint bank account statements spanning the duration of our marriage (2013 - 2015)
5. Joint auto-loan statements, with an additional letter provided by Capital One Auto Finance detailing the loan in both of our names
6. Joint lease agreement for communal home, year dated 2013
7. Joint lease agreement for communal home, year dated 2014
8. Summary provided by AT&T for family cellular phone plan, detailing both our names
9. Correspondence between my wife and I during the good times, including correspondence between us and the landlord prior to our move in date

And obviously the final divorce decree, original marriage certificate (copies) and the photocopy of both sides of my Green Card.

Just in case this helps anyone! The only thing my lawyer mentioned that I could possibly have submitted would be personal affidavits, but they were usually only procured if basic financial comingling and such cannot be proven with ease.

[TBoneTX 43,057]

Thanks for the update.

[Villanelle 4,121]

That all looks good to me too. You usually find people with the divorce waiver send in less paperwork in general then people that are still married because the divorce decree itself is a huge piece of evidence. It holds a lot of weight. You figure you spent countless hours working through the entire marriage dividing assets and separating your lives and a court reviewed and approved every line of it. That hold an extreme amount of weight. So you can say USCIS takes the courts word for it and does not want to see all those docs again for themselves.

Its sort of a ha ha that you thought your wife would give you a copy of the divorce decree. Even if she did- One copy? Now is the time to stock up on them. Im being serious. They literally charged you what a few bucks for a copy with the seal on it? Get, Im not kidding like a half dozen. Because you will need them for assorted things for the rest of your life and paper doesnt hold up well.

You want to get married again- youll need to show it. If you go to a ROC interview (unlikely though you seem to be pretty rounded out), youre going to bring it. Naturalizing? yes again. If you move hours away from that court youll regret not being so close as to be able to go in and pick one up if you need it immediately for some reason. Plus the longer time goes the deeper it goes into the archives and the more scoffing the clerk on the phone will give you in 2040 when you ask for paperwork from 2015 lol.

[oceanborn 33]

That all looks good to me too. You usually find people with the divorce waiver send in less paperwork in general then people that are still married because the divorce decree itself is a huge piece of evidence. It holds a lot of weight. You figure you spent countless hours working through the entire marriage dividing assets and separating your lives and a court reviewed and approved every line of it. That hold an extreme amount of weight. So you can say USCIS takes the courts word for it and does not want to see all those docs again for themselves.

Its sort of a ha ha that you thought your wife would give you a copy of the divorce decree. Even if she did- One copy? Now is the time to stock up on them. Im being serious. They literally charged you what a few bucks for a copy with the seal on it? Get, Im not kidding like a half dozen. Because you will need them for assorted things for the rest of your life and paper doesnt hold up well.

You want to get married again- youll need to show it. If you go to a ROC interview (unlikely though you seem to be pretty rounded out), youre going to bring it. Naturalizing? yes again. If you move hours away from that court youll regret not being so close as to be able to go in and pick one up if you need it immediately for some reason. Plus the longer time goes the deeper it goes into the archives and the more scoffing the clerk on the phone will give you in 2040 when you ask for paperwork from 2015 lol.

Thanks for the advice here, Damara! I have just requested 5 certified copies from the court, I completely see your point as to how useful these may be for many future endeavors.

As to your first point, the Lawyer I saw said something very similar - the divorce decree by itself does lend a lot of weight to the evidence, especially as it details the split of joint property, joint assets and finances. Obviously not sufficient by itself, but I certainly see how it's considered as part of the package.

[EM_VisaJ_2015 1]

This feels like very solid evidence almost similar to mine. Like I mentioned earlier they sent me a generic RFE asking for more but calling for items that I had already included in the original packet. Since you already have the divorce decree in hand I believe it will smoother sailing

[oceanborn 33]

I just wanted to let you all know (in case anyone was following this) that with all the above information submitted, I was just approved! No interview, no RFEs, and it took a little over 5 months from start to finish.

The following was submitted at the time:

1. A letter detailing the circumstances of our marriage and reasons for divorcing,
2. Joint US tax return for the fiscal year 2013
3. Joint US tax return for the fiscal year 2014
4. Joint bank account statements spanning the duration of our marriage (2013 - 2015)
5. Joint auto-loan statements, with an additional letter provided by Capital One Auto Finance detailing the loan in both of our names
6. Joint lease agreement for communal home, year dated 2013
7. Joint lease agreement for communal home, year dated 2014
8. Summary provided by AT&T for family cellular phone plan, detailing both our names
9. Correspondence between my wife and I during the good times, including correspondence between us and the landlord prior to our move in date
   

So, even though it was with a divorce waiver, so long as you submit sufficient evidence they aren't necessarily guaranteed to call you in for interview!

Edited November 4, 2015 by oceanborn

[TBoneTX 43,057]

Thanks for the update with the great news.